Shortly after the Minneapolis city council and mayoral election in Fall 2013, the new council, overnight, imposed a year-long moratorium on all construction of new "teardown" homes in Southwest Minneapolis (Ward 13). That move put an abrupt stop to a pipeline of $65,000,000 in annualized economic activity, in the part of town where the vast majority of new single family homes are built. All based on allegations of a systematic failure by unnamed "bad actor" builders to adhere to recommended construction practices.Highlights of this report include:

Calling into question the fact base used to justify the moratorium

Demonstrating how the city "cherry-picked" and failed to divulge data in order to build its case

Details on a proposal for an inexpensive, technology-based solution to the issue of construction management and community responsibility

This being local government, the city council of course decided to create a 16 page, paper-based "solution" for managing construction projects. I don't think I have met a single person who knows where to find this, how to use it, or how it is used. (I am updating this in April 2016, and I have a new house - a teardown - under construction across the street from me.)​PDF slides only, no narration - sorry!